EA looking to revive classic Bullfrog games

Electronic Arts may be looking to revive a few of Bullfrog's old licenses in one form or another, it seems.

Electronic Arts may be looking to revive a few of Bullfrog's classic game licenses in the future it seems, though not as simple remakes a spokesperson for the publisher has claimed.

Bullfrog was Peter Molyneux's original studio which developed a strong reputation for off-the-wall strategy titles in the mid 90s. The most notable titles were Theme Park, Theme Hospital, Syndicate and, of course. Dungeon Keeper. Unfortunately, when Bullfrog was sold to Electronic Arts at it's peak a lot of the key talent left the company and went to join Molyneux at Lionhead.Since then EA has made a few token efforts to use the Bullfrog licenses and is heavily rumoured to be making a new Syndicate game as we speak.

Now, according to EA's Harvey Elliot, those old series may soon get revived in some form - though they almost definitely won't come as straight-up remakes.

"If you remember all the old classics you played, if you go back and play them now, they're not the same. They were right for their time, and the trick with those games is coming up with what's right for the time now," Elliot told Kikizo.

"I'm going to look at them at some point, I think there's an opportunity to bring those back in the future, but only if it's right for the time and not just a 'remake' or something. We'd need to do it in a way that's true to the original values, but would still make a great game today."

Which Bullfrog license are you most interested in? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.

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"If you remember all the old classics you played, if you go back and play them now, they're not the same. They were right for their time, and the trick with those games is coming up with what's right for the time now,"

Given that a Syndicate sequel is already rumoured to be in the works I'd like to see Magic Carpet revisited. It was great fun and (at the time) really gave PC hardware a good workout, especially if you tried to play it in the special 3D mode.

yea some magic carpet would be sweet
i've been waiting for new dugoen keeper for aaaages, loved the one
and syndicate :) kick ass, but need some new populous to, old school populous II not the latest one with the shamens and stuff
though i've got a feeling EA will cock it up, prob move syndicate to an FPS or over the shoulder shooter
I was so disapointed with the Golden Axe remake, all they had to do was update the grpahics but keep it a 3nd side scroller but noooo they go 3D and drop the best cvharacter, ie lil drwarf dude with the "golden axe"

Please EA, leave these games well alone. Any meddling will surely put a nail in the coffin for these titles.

Now here's an idea, instead of spending all that time and money effectively ruining the memories of those that hold these little gems dear to their hearts.... why not direct all that energy into actually developing games?

Originally Posted by B1GBUDPlease EA, leave these games well alone. Any meddling will surely put a nail in the coffin for these titles.

Now here's an idea, instead of spending all that time and money effectively ruining the memories of those that hold these little gems dear to their hearts.... why not direct all that energy into actually developing games?

agreed, but theres no money in innovation these days, only recycling. :/

On the one hand I can agree that recycling a games innovations and designs may hold back our evolution, on the other hand Bullfrog did make exceedingly good games and I can't wait to play a new version of anything they do. Especially Dungeon keeper!

I was just saying earlier today how I felt like playing Theme Hospital again.. and it would work well on the iPhone in its remade format so I don't see any need to adjust it to the times. Port now ASAP!

Theme Hospital, Dungeon Keeper and Syndicate are still some of my favourite games of all time.

Unfortunately, as excited as I would like to be, this is EA we are talking about. Consolification is going to ruin anything they try to remake. Or not, as the case maybe.

Whatever they do, it is going to butcher some of the best games ever made. The consoles are such a powerful business force at the moment, and a company like EA is not going to miss an oppurtunity to make money. And there in lies the problem; these were PC games.

Dungeon Keeper, Populous & Syndicate are the titles that scream out for a reboot, especially Syndicate as that possibly the most awesome of the awesome games generation as I now call it (others could refer to it as the Amiga games generation).

I should think that any tweaking of the games will ruin them in my opinion. As to them not standing up in today's day and time, BS. Just because the games are old or the graphics aren't anywhere where they are today, doesn't mean that they are not playable.
If they do port or remake, they should provide an original playable of the title; and if they want to tweak, put the updated version out alongside of the original. The originals were good because of the game. Tetris is simple, and still getting played strongly.
But, just my opinion.

"If you remember all the old classics you played, if you go back and play them now, they're not the same. They were right for their time, and the trick with those games is coming up with what's right for the time now," Elliot told Kikizo.

BS. I still break out Populous the Beginning and Dungeon Keeper once or twice a year. And I still find them far better than any other games out there, I can play them for a week straight and not get bored. I did get Populous for the DS and that's pretty cool with the stylus. I wouldn't mind a graphics update though, just don't mess with it. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Not sure I'd care about another sequel or spinoff, but I'd buy a graphics update for sure.

Originally Posted by Lazarus DarkBS. I still break out Populous the Beginning and Dungeon Keeper once or twice a year. And I still find them far better than any other games out there, I can play them for a week straight and not get bored. I did get Populous for the DS and that's pretty cool with the stylus. I wouldn't mind a graphics update though, just don't mess with it. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Not sure I'd care about another sequel or spinoff, but I'd buy a graphics update for sure.

While I totally disagree with the statement you quoted (what a load of horsehit), you have to appreciate that nostalgia is a powerful force. Games people tell me are amazing that I missed the first time around, I just can't get in to. Some things really do depend on the time. I could play X-Com until the sun rises (and often do), but try getting my younger brother to, or any of my friends my age who missed it, and it just doesn't happen.

Releasing these games with better graphics would help a lot, but they are still only going to cater mianly to the old fans. Unfortunately, times do move on and cultures change, so a revival really would need something changed. But I disagree with him saying that going back to your old favourites is different and worse. They are always just as good for me, but I can appreciate that is only because of nostalgia.

A good game is a good game and will stay a good game. Graphics and sounds might age but mechanics hardly ever do.

Every good RTS is based on paper-scissor-stones, one way or the other. It's like a good movie or book: They're great when first released but they'll be watched/read by the next generations to come. Take Hitchcock's movies as an example, or the Bond novels.

Originally Posted by SkiddywinksWhile I totally disagree with the statement you quoted (what a load of horsehit), you have to appreciate that nostalgia is a powerful force. Games people tell me are amazing that I missed the first time around, I just can't get in to. Some things really do depend on the time. I could play X-Com until the sun rises (and often do), but try getting my younger brother to, or any of my friends my age who missed it, and it just doesn't happen.

Depends how open you are to 'old' new things, I guess - I didn't play X-Com the first time around, but when I did finally play it I enjoyed it. Same with a lot of sprite-based RPGs - didn't play them the first time around (like on the SNES) but have since played the PS1/GBA/DS/PSP rerelease (or frequently all of them) and was totally drawn in. I first played Chrono Trigger (on an emulator) around the time when Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy was released... and I enjoyed Chrono Trigger more. ;)

For me it would gave to be Theme Hospital and Dungeon Keeper. played both extensively, although I never actualy finished Theme Hospital. Does anyone know if these games will work with the Windows 7 XP thing? Seeing as they don`t use much GFX power. I also want a new Homeworld plus ports to Vista/Win7.

Syndicate was great on the Amiga....so was populous....
Maybe they should bring out the game in two versions, buy the remake, with its "updates" and get the original, tweaked to run on XP/Vista/Win7 as well.
So at least you can't bitch and say the original was better, since you have it also...

Originally Posted by UncertainGodIf EA released working versions of Syndicate, American Revolt & Syndicate wars on a disk with no other changes except for it to work fine in a modern windows environment I would gladly pay £30 for it.

£30! I managed to get Syndicate + American Revolt working under DOS Box without too much effort

I know I'm digging up an old thread, but does anybody know anything on this topic anymore? I haven't heard a thing about a new Dungeon Keeper, or more importantly, Theme Hospital. I've been playing this classic game all of this last week, and contrary to what Harvey Elliot said, it is just as good as it was 13 years ago. I think the concept and gameplay is timeless and is still great fun today. A remake? Yes please.

Well EA cancelled a lot of project recently, ones they have kept going are Project Redlime (Almost certainly a new Syndicate) and a couple of others but it seems that they have given up on taking chances for now given the current economy and that they are pussies.